GSI BOARD DESIGNERS

Josh Constable

Born in Australia's Noosa Heads, Josh grew up eating sand and playing on the beach as his dad surfed. By the time he could walk, he was already out in the lineup with his Dad. At 10, he was competing in Junior Boardriders events, and as a teenager, began doing the Junior Shortboard Series, alongside future world champions Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson. But it was on a family holiday to Byron Bay, during his early teens, where he discovered longboarding and his own successful path was mapped out.

Josh began competing professionally at 15 on the Australian Professional Longboard Circuit, securing amazing results. In only his first year he qualified for the Oxbow World Longboard Championships, in Hawaii.

In 1998 he traveled to California, as a 17 year old competing in the US Open of Longboarding at Huntington Beach, and made the final. Josh's success then skyrocketed when he became one of only few international surfers ever to make the prestigious cover of Longboard Magazine.

By 2006, Josh had made history by winning the ASP World Longboard Title, cementing his legacy alongside legends Nat Young, Joel Tudor, Bonga Perkins and many other greats. In doing so, was named by Longboard Magazine as one of the most influential surfers of the past 15 years.

Josh also won the first Australian Stand Up Paddle Title in 2009, highlighting his ability to excel on all kinds of watercraft. Then in 2016, went on to win another Australian Open Longboard Title, giving him 6 total. He's the only surfer in the history of Australian Longboarding to accomplish this.

This passion translated into his surfboard label Creative Army, which began four years ago.

Having worked alongside some of the most renowned board designers in the world, Josh humbling views his shaping evolution as "a kaleidescope of all these experiences." His surfboards have become pieces of art, inspired by traditional templates, but with a modern surfer in mind.

"Growing up and living in Noosa gives you an amazing opportunity to ride a wide variety of boards, and a great platform for R&D," explains Constable. "Everything I make I surf, and the focus is high quality, functional boards, with fashion forward atheistic in full tint and pigment color ways."

You can check out the Global Surf Industries range of Creative Army Surfboards over on the Creative Army pages of our website.

Hayden Cox

Hayden Cox is arguably the most well known up and coming young surfboard designer on the planet. At 31 years old, Hayden's innovative high performance shortboards are being ridden by some of the best surfers in the world, and his designs are drastically helping advance the riding of everyday surfers.

The Sydney, Australian native, who started surfing as a kid, began crafting his own shapes after he snapped his favorite surfboard when he was only 15. "My thought process at the time was that if I couldn't replace it and buy a new one, I'd make it instead," said Hayden. That year Hayden, spent his entire school vacation learning how to shape surfboards, launching his own website and even learning how to do web code one year later when he was 16.

A self-proclaimed "tech geek" Hayden is constantly looking outside of just the surfboard world for ideas on innovation and performance. For instance, on his Psychedelic Germ Model, he took inspiration from a board he built for former world champ Tom Carroll where he consulted with an Australian naval architect to build the hull on the front of the board that would be better for bigger ocean waves. Each key feature in his designs are functional and have a performance purpose.

Hayden is responsible for inventing global surfboard technology, FutureFlex (formally known as FibreFlex). The stringerless technology, created from high density EPS foam with a parabolic carbon fiber frame, creates a high energy, rapid spring back resulting in ultimate speed and drive. It's not only used on Haydenshapes boards, but some of the most renowned shapers and worldwide brands from Channel Islands to Lost and Rusty are also using Hayden's technology in their own models.

With boards now stocked in over 72 countries, Hayden who was recently compared to a "hip quantum physicist," by Surfing Magazine, recently opened a new operation in Los Angles, California where he hopes to expand his brand and continue to innovate on American soil for a global audience.

While the accolades and magazines spreads on Hayden and his boards keep pouring in, Hayden gets his biggest sense of accomplishment in doing what he does best, closer to home. "Whether I am in Thailand, Bondi or Venice where I am living now, the biggest sense of satisfaction I get is watching an every day surfer enjoy one of my models." Luckily for surfers around the globe, Hayden still has a lot more years ahead of him.

You can check out the Global Surf Industries range of Haydenshapes Surfboards over on the Haydenshapes pages of our website.

Richie Lovett

Richie Lovett is a former pro surfer turned surfboard designer who's excelled as much in the water as he has behind the drawing board. The Australian native, who caught his first wave at Manly Beach as a nine-year-old Grom, carved his way through a successful career that started at age 18, and culminated with 10 consecutive years on the elite World Championship Tour.

During his career as a pro, Richie had close relationships with his shapers, including Greg Clough, Greg Webber, Luke Short, Simon Anderson, and Chris Goulding. "Working with such talented shapers was basically a long apprenticeship on the finer intricacies of board design and performance," he said. "As a pro you build a pretty extensive knowledge bank on how and why a surfboard works."

After years of competing on the ASP World Tour, Richie discovered a completely new relationship with his equipment following his cancer diagnosis at the end of 2005. After being forced to undergo radical hip surgery to alleviate his cancer, Richie had to teach himself to surf all over again at the ripe age of 33.

Besides learning lessons in humility during his cancer journey, Richie says had to go back to the basics when re-learning to surf. "I went back to riding longboards, and then everything from standup paddleboards, to hybrids, to eventually high performance shortboards again. In doing so, I became really familiar with all types of surfboard genres."

After 2006, Richie learned how to design surfboards using new design software. He soon started co-designing surfboard models for Aloha Surfboards. During this time he deepened his knowledge of how to use the design software in order to make the highest quality boards possible. The final piece of the puzzle came when he started finishing his own designs in the shaping bay.

As a former pro surfer with an innate ability to design, finish shape, and test boards in the water at the highest level, Richie has been responsible for creating some of the most fun-to-ride hybrid and high performance models on the market. "It's really satisfying being able to create a board holistically from start to finish, from conceptualizing it in my mind, designing it, shaping it, riding it, and then getting immediate feedback," he said.

Richie's latest project has seen him give the 7S range a complete overhaul by introducing some exciting new models, including the Saltshaker and the Slipstream, and re-designing the ever-popular Superfish model. The new 7S range will feature a new Carbon Vector technology that will launch in 2014.

Its no secret GSI's mantra resonates with Richie more than ever these days. "Surfing has, and always will be, a huge influence in my life," he said. "Surfing was my inspiration when I was battling and recovering from cancer, and it's the thing that keeps me motivated to stay fit and healthy. Besides my family and friends, it's the one thing that drives everything that I do, and it just so happens to bring me immense enjoyment".

Richie is not only a surfboard designer, he also plays the role of Brand Ambassador for Surf Hardware International where he's entrenched in the world of fin design, surf accessories and marketing, and he's also a spokesman for Hurley, Vertra, Electric, the Hannah's Chance Foundation and the Cancer Council. In December of 2013, Richie released his first book, The Big Sea, which talks about surfing, his life and his battle with cancer.

When he's at home at Curl Curl Beach in Sydney, Australia, Richie can be found either enjoying the waves or spending time with his beautiful wife, Amanda, and his two kids, Lennix and Mabel.

You can check out the Global Surf Industries range of 7S Surfboards over on the 7S pages of our website.

Tom Carroll

While Australia's Tom Carroll might be most known for his proficiency in the sport of surfing, to those who live their lives around the sea, he's become recognized as a consummate waterman.

"I have been really lucky to grow up beside the ocean and in Australia where beach culture is such a huge part of life," said Carroll. "As a kid, I was always in the water, and the ocean has always given me so much and offered a place for me to figure things out when anything has been difficult."

In 2014, Carroll was awarded by the Surf Industry Manufacturer's Association (SIMA) with the "Waterman of the Year" Award. As the defacto Oscars of the surf industry, the award was a huge honor as it recognized Carroll as a leader amongst his peers. When he accepted the award, Carroll had just come from finishing the infamous Molokai to Oahu crossing on a standup paddleboard. He finished the 32-gruelling miles in only five hours and two minutes as part of a team of two. Everything he does in the ocean, Carroll still does to the highest level.

Since riding his first wave at age eight, Carroll has ridden thousands of surfboards and wave-riding equipment. That's just one reason why he was so attracted to the sport of standup paddleboarding when he was first introduced to it in 2004.

"It lit me up and opened my eyes into riding waves from a totally new perspective," said Carroll about his first experience in 2004 when Laird Hamilton and Dave Kalama introduced him to the sport in Maui. With a "tanker of a board," Hamilton and Kalama took Carroll down a 10-mile downwinder. "It was a big eye opener and it kicked my ass!" said Carroll, who caught one wave that day, and proceeded to get "smashed," on his first attempt.

As a man who loves a good challenge, Carroll was hooked. Tom began to take an interest in designing and testing SUP shapes from various shapers, in particular from Blane Chambers of Hawaii who shared Carroll's passionand love of standup paddle design. The two surfed every chance they could during Carroll's trips to the Islands, and Chambers recently collaborated with Carroll on his own SUP range, Tom Carroll Paddle Surf.

Besides enjoying the design side and being one of the best workouts, Carroll said standup paddling has given him immense joy. "It increased my options in the surf and really challenged how I look at surfing waves. It's also offered my body a new challenge and offered me longevity in the sport. I get a completely different view of the ocean as well, and I love it."

Carroll also loves how accessible the sport is. "Everyone who tries it is hooked, said Carroll who enjoys paddling with his daughters most of all. "Even my mates who used to give me heat about trying the sport are now hooked," he laughed.

You can check out the Global Surf Industries range of Tom Carroll Paddle Surf SUPs on the Tom Carroll Paddle Surf Pages of our website.

Steve Walden

Known as the "Father of the Modern Longboard," and for his appropriately named "Magic" series of surfboards, Steve Walden is a surfboard designer who eats, breathes and lives for surfing.

In 1961, when Steve was 13 years old, he shaped his first surfboard and never looked back. Since then, the California native has shaped over 25,000 boards and surfed in over 200 contests. By testing and designing boards he loves to ride (boards that have also placed him on the podium at most of the contests he has entered), Walden has gained a huge following.

"I design surfboards for myself, and it just so happens, they work really well for a lot of other people as well," said Walden when asked about his approach to designing boards.

He's also had a few years of experience perfecting his craft. Walden opened his first surfboard factory and store in Huntington Beach in 1969. He moved to the North Shore of Oahu in 1972 where he made a name for himself as a prolific longboard shaper. It was during that time while he was in Hawaii, when the rest of the surfing world was fixated on short single-fins, Walden continued to hone his longboard designs. Over the years, he shaped for prestigious labels like Lightning Bolt, Local Motion, HIC, and Channel Islands; however, it was always his own boards that set him apart from the rest.

In the early 80s, Walden returned to California where he unveiled his wildly successful Magic Model, known for its radical rocker, down-turned rails, and super-fast Turbo Hull bottom contour.

He joined the Global Surf Industries team in 2004, and has since spread his love of longboarding to thousands of people across the globe, and received numerous awards and international acclaim for his appropriately named "Magic Longboards."

"I like to make boards for really good surfers but my main interest has always been to make boards for every day people because not everyone surfs like Kelly Slater," he said. "My goal has always been to make boards that are functional and forgiving so surfers can really enjoy the experience and that's where the Magic Models came in," he said.

Today, it's easy to find Walden still shaping boards in his home in Ventura or surfing in a contest. Unlike most people who give up contest surfing as a teenager, Walden, who had competed some as a youth, returned to contest surfing at the age of 30 and has been a regular on the winner's podium ever since. In fact, Walden still holds the record for the longest noseride in competition history with an epic 25.5-second ride.

When he's not shaping boards or surfing, Walden is enjoying the fruits of his legacy, spending time with his family, including his 18 grandkids, who surf and live on the North Shore.

"I am really lucky to have the opportunity to do what I love. I also love the fact that I can think about a new design and then go make it. When my imagination comes to life on a wave, that gets me more stoked than anything."

You can check out the Global Surf Industries range of Walden Surfboards over on Walden Surfboard pages of our website.

Tom Wegener

Tom Wegener's obsession with riding waves has made him a revolutionary shaper, most known for bringing modern designs to ancient equipment.

Tom started shaping boards when he was 12 years old in 1979. Growing up in Redondo Beach, California, he rode bellyboards and mats until he bought his first surfboard for $11. As a teen, he started tinkering with his own designs, and later became a sponsored surfer riding for Donald Takayama in the mid-eighties.

"Donald introduced me to the Aloha spirit and an older school of surfing," said Tom. It's that Aloha spirit and contagious stoke that has made Tom one of the most sought after shapers for bringing so much fun and love to the people who ride his equipment.

Tom rode longboards when longboarding wasn't "cool," but they were better for the mushier breaks he was used to surfing in Southern California. He took the designs from the 1960s longboards and made contemporary traditional singlefin longboards and started the retro movement in the early 1990s.

A closet braniac, he first earned a degree in philosophy from USCD, and then received his law degree from USD. Rather than making a living as a lawyer, Tom wanted to make a career around surfing.

He started making surf movies, then fell in love and moved to Australia in 1998 where he now lives with his family in Noosa Heads. In Australia, Tom shaped traditional single fin longboards that were perfect for nose-riding. He discovered a type of wood called Paulownia in 2001, that was perfect for shaping surfboards and much better for the environment, and switched from foam to wood for the next few years.

In 2004, Tom visited the Bishop Museum in Hawaii where he saw the ancient surfboards (the alaia) that sparked his next innovation. "I was completely blown out of my head," he said after seeing them. The paulownia wood was perfect for making an alaia finless board based off those ancient Hawaiian boards, and hence the alaia revolution began.

By 2007, Tom's finless surfboards had created a cult following around the world and re-invigorated a new way to ride waves. It also gained him international attention and accolades including Surfing Magazine's Shaper of the Year Award in 2009.

Because riding a thin alaia was not easy for everyone, Tom teamed up with GSI in 2009 to form The Seaglass Project. Tom designed two alaia inspired finless foam surfboards, the Tuna, which won the 2010 Australian International Best Design Award for Sport and Leisure and the Albacore, which won an Australian International Good Design Mark for Sport and Leisure in 2012 . It’s also made finless surfing accessible to thousands of surfers around the world.

Tom has made about 60 plus new models of wave riding equipment from belly boards to more finless surfboards and eco-friendly, non-toxic boards, which have also won him numerous international awards.

Walk into Tom's house in Noosa and there is a good chance he will be tinkering with another new model. He will have a giant grin across his face like a stoked Grommet trapped inside an adult's body. He's just that kind of guy.

"For me, surfing is a fantastic life journey," said Tom. "I love that you can ride different surfboards on different waves, and it's so much fun! It's the most important thing, aside from my family, and I could never imagine not having surfing in my life."

You can check out the Global Surf Industries range of Seaglass Project Surfboards over on The Seaglass Project pages of our website.

LIFE IS BETTER WHEN YOU SURF®

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